Thursday, May 06, 2010

Orson Welles Goes to the Exposition, Sells the Eiffel Tower to Cleopatra for A Dollar-

NOTED IN THE NEWS-

- Cleopatra emerges from sands, seas of time : "A new exhibition traces the life, loves, and death of Cleopatra, Egypt's final pharaoh and one of history's most compelling and enigmatic figures..." Read more

- (Who says you can't still get bargains at auctions?) Christie's sued for selling £100m 'Da Vinci' for £11,400: A former owner claims the auction house was negligent when it sold his da Vinci drawing as a 19th century German work, and for 0.01% of its potential value... Oops. read more

ARTS ALMANAC-

May 6, 1880: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German expressionist painter and printmaker, was born. "Kirchner was one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke or "The Bridge", a key group leading to the foundation of Expressionism in 20th century art. He volunteered for army service in the First World War, but soon suffered a breakdown and was discharged. In 1918, he settled in Davos, living in a farm house in the Alps. His reputation grew with several exhibitions in Germany and Switzerland in 1920 and with a monograph and the first part of a catalogue raisonné of his graphics in 1926, a mural commission by the Folkwang museum in 1927, and a presence at the Venice Biennale in 1928; he became a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts in 1931. In 1933, Kirchner was labelled a "degenerate artist" by the Nazis and asked for his resignation from the Berlin Academy of Arts; in 1937, over 600 of his works were confiscated from public museums in Germany and were sold or destroyed. In 1938, the psychological trauma of these events, along with the Nazi occupation of Austria, close to his home, led to his suicide.

May 6, 1889: The Exposition Universelle and the Eiffel Tower are both officially opened to the public. "The Exposition was held during the year of the 100th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, an event traditionally considered as the symbol for the beginning of the French Revolution. The main symbol of the Fair was the Eiffel Tower, which served as the entrance arch to the Fair. Though not yet completed, exhibition attendees were allowed to walk up to the second floor platform of the tower."

A report in the June 14th, 1889 issue of Engineering noted: The exhibition will be famous for four distinctive features. In the first place, for its buildings, especially the Eiffel tower and the Machinery Hall; in the second place, for its Colonial Exhibition, which for the first time brings vividly to the appreciation of the Frenchmen that they are masters of lands beyond the sea; thirdly, it will be remembered for its great collection of war material, the most absorbing subject now-a-days, unfortunately, to governments if not to individuals; and fourthly, it will be remembered, and with good cause by many, for the extraordinary manner in which South American countries are represented.

May 6, 1915: Orson Welles, American film director and actor was born, and cinema would never be the same again. What else can I say? If you don't know much about the man I suggest you go look him up- there's probably a page or two that mention him somewhere on the internets.

IN OUR STORE-

“The Quest for Immortality. Treasures of Ancient Egypt”

Edited by Erik Hornung & Betsy M. Bryan.

Published by the National Gallery of Art in 2002.

“From the beginning of their civilization, ancient Egyptians conceived of an immortal afterlife, devoting vast material resources and energy into preparations for eternity. This catalog, filled with vivid photographs of objects from Cairo's Egyptian Museum, discusses their continually evolving understanding of the afterlife in the period from the New Kingdom (1550-1069 BC), when stability and prosperity fostered a flowering of cultural activity, to the Late Period (664-332 BC). More than 100 objects are shown in detail—coffins, tombs, masks, papyri, sarcophagi, and sculpture, some in multiple images or with full-page closeups—and the introductory essays are illustrated with some 75 additional color photographs.”